Specific Sports Habits, Leisure‐Time Physical Activity, and School‐Educational Physical Activity in Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Patterns and Barriers

Abstract

Objective. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) may cause functional impairment and reduced time engaged in physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the habits of patients with JIA regarding participation in club sports, leisuretime physical activity, and school-educational physical activity and relate this to objectively measured physical activity using accelerometry and to compare the findings with those in healthy controls.Methods. Consecutive patients from the Aarhus University Hospital outpatient clinic were included. Clinical characteristics, functional ability, and exploration of specific habits in club sports, leisure-time physical activity, and school-educational physical activity (based on a standardized questionnaire) in patients were recorded and compared with those in healthy controls. The intensity and frequency of physical activity were measured by accelerometer monitoring, using ActiGraph GT1M.Results. Sixty-eight patients with JIA and 118 healthy control subjects were included. Despite having low disease activity, children with JIA had significantly lower accelerometry-monitored physical activity levels compared with healthy controls. The distribution of specific club sport activities was the same among patients and controls. However, the proportion of patients spending >3 hours/week participating in club sports was significantly lower than the proportion of controls, whereas no difference in time spent engaging in physical activity during leisure-time was observed. Participation in compulsory school-educational physical activity was equally high in patients and controls, although participation by patients was significantly less consistent than that by controls. Patient reports of time spent with club sport and leisure-time physical activity was significantly related to accelerometry measures, whereas this was not observed for school-educational physical activity.Conclusion. The results of this study indicate the need for structured guidance for all patients with JIA (including those with minimal disease activity) in both understanding and coping with the consequences of a low level of physical activity.

Participation in school and physical education in juvenile idiopathic arthritis in a Nordic long-term cohort study

“…A majority of the children in our cohort participated fully in physical education, and only 2.9% reported no participation. In two recent reports from the Nordic countries both Risum et al and Nørgaard et al found similarly high participation rates in physical education for children and adolescents with JIA in, respectively, a Norwegian and a Danish controlled cross-sectional study [10, 11]. In a German registry study Milatz et al found that 66% of 5879 school-aged children with JIA participated fully in school sports, while 16% did not participate [34].…”

“…All forms of physical activity are now generally recommended and encouraged for children with JIA, replacing the previous traditions of giving advice to avoid certain activities [8]. Limited reports exist on participation in school and in physical education in JIA, and most reports are convenience-sampled, recruited from hospital cohorts, cross-sectional or with short follow-up time, and the studies are often small [3, 9–11].…”

A qualitative study examining the validity and comprehensibility of physical activity items: developed and tested in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

“…Physical activity in JIA-populations has been studied previously [5, 7, 9, 54–59]. However, the instruments used in these studies have not been specifically developed and tested among children with disabilities.…”

“…Inadequate physical activity (PA) is increasingly common in younger people [1, 2] and especially among children with chronic disability [3–5]. Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is a systemic autoimmune disease with a prevalence of 0.16% in the Swedish population in children up to the age of 16 years [6].…”

Perspektiven für die rheumatologische Versorgungsforschung am Deutschen Rheuma-Forschungszentrum

“…Zu ihnen gesellen sich im Rahmen chronischer rheumatischer Erkrankungen zudem besondere Herausforderungen, weshalb eine Risikoidentifikation und Prävention umso bedeutender sind. Neben Einblicken in Bewegungsprofile soll das im Wochenverlauf durchgeführte Aktivitätsmonitoring Risikogruppen für Bewegungsmangel identifizieren, Barrieren für körperlich aktives Verhalten aufdecken und Ansätze für Maßnahmen schaffen, die der Entwicklung von Begleiterkrankungen und negativen Folgen im späteren Leben entgegenwirken [19].…”